Blog posts

January 14, 2014

In Conversation with FAI: Michael Clemens Tells Us What’s Wrong with the Research Agenda on Remittances

FAI’s Tim Ogden and Michael Clemens, Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), recently published a Framing Note that argues for a radical shift in perspective on how we view migration and remittances. Tim sat down with Michael to discuss the possibilities that open up when we consider migration as a strategy for household financial management, and remittances as a financial investment rather than windfall income. Below are highlights of their conversation.

What is the current research agenda on remittances?

Why is the existing thinking around remittances and migration problematic?

If we use the frame of migration and remittances as a household financial management strategy, what are some more interesting questions that open up to us?

For more on this topic, read Michael's blog post making the case for this new research agenda. Our Big Questions section on Payments has additional resources on digital payment systems and development.